Chapter 2239: Obstinate
Wang Zheng still refused to believe Lu Yin’s claims. "Don't think that you can force me to give you my portion of the restriction just by talking to me and making wild claims."
Lu Yin frowned. "It looks like you still don't believe that I’m the one in control of Wang Su's life and death."
Wang Zheng stared intently at Lu Yin. "Lu Xiaoxuan, I honestly admire you a great deal. It’s truly amazing that someone who lost all of their memories was able to rise up to where you now stand from the Forsaken Land. Unfortunately, while I hold no grudge against you personally, we are on different sides."
Lu Yin and Wang Zheng stared at each other. "I can keep you prisoner or let you go. I can also release Wang Su, Wang Yi, and the rest in the future."
Wang Zheng shook his head. "I don't believe that you’ve actually managed to subdue the army we sent after you. You might be able to control Long Ke and even some of the people who were sent after you to get some information from them. However, even if you did manage to subdue the entire army and capture everyone, I still wouldn’t give you my portion of the restriction method."
Lu Yin’s eyes narrowed. "Are you not afraid that your decision will kill Wang Su and the rest?"
"That's still better than all of humanity falling!" Wang Zheng shouted back.
Lu Yin's eyes grew cold. "Are you really trying to take the moral high ground when speaking to me?"
Wang Zheng sighed. "Believe it or not, I didn't know about the plan to exile your family in advance. Truthfully, the four ruling powers committed a terrible crime against the entire Perennial World by banishing the Lu family. The Lu family should have never been exiled, as they were the most powerful force that stood against the Aeternals."
"There’s no point in telling me that now," Lu Yin retorted in a frigid tone.
Wang Zheng smiled wryly at the reaction. "I know that you don't believe me, but I don’t need you to. All I need to do is keep you from learning the restriction method and saving Star Alliance. I may sympathize with the Lu family and the members of Star Alliance, but I can never allow you to rescue them. If you save them, then with the fact that you are Lu Xiaoxuan, the Perennial World will descend into chaos, which will simply give Aeternus an opening to exploit."
"Wang Zheng, you’re unbelievable!" Lu Yin yelled. "You’re even worse than Bai Teng and the rest! At least they’ll admit that they were scheming against my family, but you try to use what’s best for humanity to defend yourself. Could you be any more of a hypocrite?"
Wang Zheng and Lu Yin continued to stare at each other. "It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not, but I won’t allow you to destroy the current stability of the Perennial World, even if stopping you wipes out my entire Wang family. Lu Xiaoxuan, I am truly sorry for you and your family. I sympathize with you in that matter, and I understand that you want revenge, but you must understand that if we are gone, who will stop Aeternus? If Star Alliance is saved, the four ruling powers will all start to suspect each other. Humanity will fall apart and lose our cohesion. This will only benefit the Aeternals."
Lu Yin’s fists clenched tighter and tighter. This was also something that he struggled with all the time. This was Shaman God’s entire scheme.
Lu Yin had no idea if Wang Zheng was being honest, but he felt that he was likely being told the truth. The patriarch would be too much of a hypocrite if he could deliver such a convincing performance. However, if Wang Zheng was being honest, then it would be nearly impossible for Lu Yin to get the information he needed from the patriarch. This was going to be a major problem.
Lu Yin did not know enough about Wang Zheng’s personality to make a decision. Was he a hypocrite or an obstinate person?
Lu Yin had a massive grudge against the four ruling powers, and many people from the four ruling powers were arrogant and condescending towards everyone, but that did not mean that everyone from the four ruling powers was a despicable human being. They also had righteous people and heroes who were willing to sacrifice everything for the good of mankind, even their own lives. There were truly good people within the four ruling powers.
Lu Yin finally understood what it felt like to not be able to see through someone. Few people had ever been able to see through Lu Yin’s thoughts and actions, but at this moment, he was simply unable to read Wang Zheng.
Not knowing what else to do, Lu Yin re-sealed Wang Zheng with wei, and then went to find Wang Dashuai. "What kind of person is Wang Zheng?"
When Wang Dashuai saw Lu Yin, he reflexively prepared to start offer up flattery and praise, but hearing Wang Zheng's name stopped the fatty dead in his tracks from fear. In fact, he froze with his hands in the air, which was rather embarrassing for him.
"Wha- Patriarch Wang Zheng?" Wang Dashuai felt he must have heard wrong, so he wanted to double check.
Lu Yin stared at Wang Dashuai. "What do you know about Wang Zheng?"
Dashuai Wang gulped. "Seventh Bro, why are you asking about him?"
Lu Yin said, "Just cut the bullshit and tell me what you know."
The smile that Wang Dashuai forced out was uglier than if he were crying. "Wang Zheng is the patriarch of my Wang family, so I really don’t know almost anything about him. Seventh Bro, you’ll need to ask Wang Su or Wang Yi about him."
"You don't even have a basic impression of Wang Zheng?" Lu Yin's eyes glinted with a sharp light, and just the sight sent chills down Wang Dashuai’s back.
He quickly replied, "Yes, I have an impression of him! Old-fashioned and ruthless. He’s ruthless to others and ruthless to himself. I once heard a story that he wiped out several clans when he was younger, and apparently, he wasn’t very well liked by the entire Wang family. Even Semi-Progenitor Wang Si publicly commented that, if Wang Zheng wasn't a direct descendant, he would have never been able to become the family’s patriarch."
"He doesn’t get along with Wang Si?" Lu Yin was surprised to hear this.
Wang Dashuai nodded. "My Wang family has divisions even within the direct line of the family. In particular, there’s a division that’s led by Elder Wang Si, and the other one is naturally led by Patriarch Wang Zheng. I don’t usually hear anything about their differences, but there are definitely disagreements between the two divisions. The most obvious argument that they have is whether or not to hunt down the remnants of the Lu family."
Lu Yin listened in silence.
Wang Dashuai liked to show off, so he made it a point to share everything he knew. "Elder Wang Si and those following her wanted to kill everyone who ever followed the Lu family, and they would rather execute people unjustly than accidentally overlook someone. While the patriarch’s followers have also hunted down survivors of the Lu family, they’ve been much less ruthless about it overall. In fact, a lot of people who were caught by Elder Wang Si’s people were saved and sent to the rear battlefield by the patriarch and his people.
"However, there are also a few times when the patriarch’s people are even crueler towards the remnants of the Lu family than Wang Si’s people, but most people have no idea why."
From what Wang Dashuai shared, Lu Yin started to get a bit of an understanding of Wang Zheng. The man was not trying to protect or defend the Lu family. Rather, he focused on ensuring that every bit of humanity’s strength was properly utilized and that nothing was wasted.
Wang Zheng felt that the four ruling powers were guilty of a terrible crime by banishing the Lu family, but that was because the Lu family had been the strongest force in the fight against Aeternus. However, since the Lu family had already been exiled, the Wang patriarch would do everything in his power to prevent the Lu family from ever recovering. It was all to ensure the stability of humanity.
This was a man who would truly rather die than give up the restriction method, as he did not want to see Lu Yin use Star Alliance against the four ruling powers.
Just one word came to mind as Lu Yin developed an understanding of Wang Zheng: obstinate!
Dashuai Wang carefully observed Lu Yin. "Seventh Bro? Was that enough? Does that help?"
Lu Yin refocused on Wang Dashuai. "It’s fine."
Dashuai Wang smiled. "I’m glad that you’re satisfied. If there’s anything else that you need, Seventh Bro, just let me know! Is there anything that you need your little brother to handle for you? I’ll get it done immediately."
Lu Yin replied, "It won’t be long now. You’ll be freed soon."
Dashuai Wang's eyes lit up. "Really? That's great! Thank you, Seventh Bro!"
Lu Yin left and returned to Wang Zheng. The man was still sealed by wei, so he was unable to even see that Lu Yin was in front of him again.
If Wang Zheng was really as pure as Wang Dashuai had described, then he would be extremely difficult for Lu Yin to deal with. It was practically impossible to pry the last portion of the restriction method from such a person.
Was there any way to obtain the last portion of the restriction aside from Wang Zheng willingly parting with it?
Lu Yin thought about this issue for a long time, but he could not come up with any solution. In the end, he had no choice but to take out the mirror and beg Progenitor Smoke for some insight.
"This kind of stone-headed stubbornness is certainly characteristic of the Wang family. Wang Yi was like this back then. The more stubborn she became, the more paranoid she grew as well. Her daughter, Wang Si, whom you killed with the Origin Progenitor’s sword, was even more paranoid. It's fine to be stubborn about things, but it can also bring about disaster depending on the person," Progenitor Smoke sighed.
Lu Yin was reminded of Wang Miaomiao and Wang Xiaoyu, who was one of the Twelve Marquises. Both of those women were extremely paranoid as well how else would they have joined Aeternus?
Humans had flaws. It was intrinsic to human nature. No one was perfect. Those imperfections were precisely what created life.
"Senior, is there any way to get the last portion of the restriction method from him?" Lu Yin asked the Progenitor’s opinion. Lu Yin could not compare to the woman’s experience or insight, so rather than stumbling through the dark on his own, it was better to ask her for advice.
Progenitor Smoke rubbed her chin while circling Wang Zheng. After a moment, she looked at Lu Yin. "The restriction’s been split into four portions, and you’ve already obtained three?"
Lu Yin nodded.
"Then isn’t it too easy? Just use what you have on him. Humans have instincts. Just like when you slash at me with a sword, I unconsciously retaliated. If you start to place the restriction on him, he’ll unconsciously try to resist. Based on how he reacts, and the fact that you already have three fourths of the complete restriction method, you should be able to use the similarities between the different pieces to figure out the last part," Progenitor Smoke said.
Lu Yin’s brows rose high. "The four portions of the restriction are similar to each other?"
"Well, kind of," Progenitor Smoke admitted.
Lu Yin was speechless. He stared at the woman in disbelief. Kind of similar? How was that possible? If the four portions of the restriction method could be grasped from understanding three portions, then someone from one of the four ruling powers would have already done so and obtained the complete restriction method. Lu Yin had no confidence that he could infer the final portion of the restriction method just from seeing how Wang Zheng reacted.
Progenitor Smoke gave Lu Yin an odd look. "You aren’t confident that you can do that?"
Lu Yin smiled wryly. "Senior, you received an inheritance of thought from your Mountain and Sea. When it comes to understanding and insight, no one can compare to you. You are the greatest goddess in the universe, but this junior isn’t like you. I- I’m just a mortal."
Progenitor Smoke became slightly flustered. "That's true."
"Why doesn’t this junior give you the portions of the restriction method, Senior? Could you help me by taking a look?" Lu Yin probed.
Progenitor Smoke snorted contemptuously. "I don't check out men's bodies."
Lu Yin was stunned. How had she interpreted things that way?
"Don't you have a Root of Intelligence? Use it," Progenitor Smoke reminded.
Lu Yin slapped his head. "Right! The Root of Intelligence is an option!"
Progenitor Smoke rolled her eyes. "If you ever end up getting involved with Hui Wen, you’ll be toyed to death by him. Idiot."
Once the woman finished speaking, she returned to the pocket dimension inside the mirror.
Lu Yin had been mocked for quite some time, but that did not matter. He had a path forward.
Lu Yin stared at Wang Zheng.
The wei disappeared from around Wang Zheng once again, and he looked at Lu Yin with some surprise. Only a few hours had passed. Why was the young man already back?
"You’ve surprised me. You’re definitely the most powerful of the leaders of the four ruling powers, and yet you didn’t attack me just now. Why?" Lu Yin asked as he observed Wang Zheng.
Wang Zheng remained calm. "Back when we all left the Wang family’s homeland, I asked Semi-Progenitor Chai to keep an eye on things and make sure that the Celestial Frost Sect didn’t attack the people from the White Dragon Clan. I knew that we were being lured away from safety and that someone was creating an opportunity to attack us.
"Semi-Progenitor Chai must have taken action when I was attacked, but you still managed to kidnap me. Since you’re able to escape from Semi-Progenitor Chai, you have to have a Semi-Progenitor helping you, which must be Kui Luo."
Lu Yin laughed. "You’re quite logical. What? Do you want to meet him?"
Wang Zheng's expression froze. "You think that Kui Luo can force the restriction method out of me?"
"Not at all. From what I’ve learned about you, I think that it’s basically impossible for you to give the real restriction method," Lu Yin replied.
Wang Zheng said nothing, as he felt that Lu Yin’s words were quite accurate.
"Kui Luo isn’t here," Lu Yin suddenly mentioned.
Wang Zheng was taken aback. "What’s that?"
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